Posts Tagged ‘easy hair’

HI! Let’s take a short break from our “Summer Braid” series in the hair department, shall we? A couple days ago I posted a photo on instagram of a client wearing a very voluminous bun on set. I jokingly referred to it as her cotton candy bun which was followed by a lot of requests for a tutorial, so why not?! This is exactly the way I did hers so follow along and recreate the look at home. I’ll also show you how I made that thin goddess-y headband!

You’ll need some embroidery thread. I love the metallic kind and above we used gold but you can use any color you want; mix, match, cooridinate with your dress, whatever! You can usually find embroidery thread at your local fabric/craft store. Here’s a linkin case you can’t find it near you. A whole lot cheaper than most headbands these days! Okay, let’s get to the tutorial steps…

Start with a clean, dry, wavy ponytail. You want the ponytail to be large enough to create major volume in your bun making! If you need to add some extensions, try doing it like we did in THIS TUTORIAL! Give it a little wave with a wand or curling iron to plump it up even more!

Now you’re going to use your comb to tease sections lightly. Don’t make it into a rats nest, you just want to give it a few slow, long back-combs with the wider side of your comb. Remember, you’re not teasing for height, you’re just teasing for more volume so be gentle on that hair!

I forgot to photograph it but, you should also grab a tail comb. That’s what we used (as you can see in this photo) to gently pull at the bun while adding a little more superholding hairspray. I like doing this more than using my fingers because it doesn’t smash anything. It’s such a tiny tail and you can work it into the middle of the bun to pull more volume pretty easily! Tail comb > fingers.

Now you’re going to need more of that magic pixie powder they refer to as texturizing powder. Remember? We discussed it in detail right HERE!Sprinkle a bit of that in front of the bun. This is going to help hold the embroidery thread in place, big time! I sprinkle it all the way around the bun, even in the back by the nape of the neck because nothing disappoints more than your headband sliding while you’re out and about. The powder is mattifying so it keeps the hair from having any slip. It’s magic I tell you.

Take about a yard of embroidery thread. Start in back as you see in photo 7. Bring it up and around the front past your ears.

Cross it over in the center. Switch pieces into the opposite hands after you cross it over and then tie it together near the nape of your neck. If you don’t have the texturizing powder, you’re going to have to do a lot more work to get this thread to stay put. Lots of hairspray and a couple tiny bobbypins should do the trick.

Once you’ve tied your goddess headband in the back, take the tail of your tailcomb and pull a little in between the strings. I just prefer the look over the hair being flat under the bands.

Now for the final step, pour a little bit more of your texturizing powder over the bun and break it up with your fingers until it has that cotton candy bun look!

Will you try this? If you do will you pleeease tag us so we can see it? Last week we posted a bunch of your Twishtails on our IG, which looked SO amazing by the way. Find us at @thebeautydept and let us know once you’ve posted by hashtagging your with #TBDcottoncandybun

As we mentioned a few hair posts ago, we’ll be cranking out some short/medium bob-length hairstyles. This is one of my favorites if you’re wearing something with a collar and you want to “lift” the hair up off your neck. You can definitely wear it regardless of the neckline on your dress/top but if pulling your hair up is the focus, keep this trick in your back pocket! I’ve broken it down into 3 sections to try and make it less complicated.

PART 1: Rough it up a little.

In these first four steps, you’re just adding some texture so the hair isn’t too soft. When short hair is super soft, the bobby pins will slip and the updo will slowly (or worse– quickly) fall apart. Here’s how we do that…

Start with clean dry hair. If you have a little wave in your natural texture, let it be. It’s useful for this updo. If your hair is naturally pin-straight, you may want to add a little quick wave with a curling iron, wand or flat iron. If you hair is curly, leave it! This can totally be done on curly hair.

Spray a bit of beach spray or texture spray all over, focusing on the root area. Make sure it’s not a product that feels too “crunchy” or sticky! You don’t want to have trouble pulling it apart as you put it up. It should be soft to the touch. Here we used THIS ONE from L’oreal, which worked really well and still felt soft.

Use your fingers to build the hair up. Scrunch and massage the root until the spray dries.

Twist some of the pieces to give it even a little more texture.

PART 2: Twist it up!

Create a diagonal part. It’s good to do this so you get a slightly more even distribution of hair on each side.

Section off the heavier side and clip it forward to save it for the “knot” portion.

Now you’re going to start twisting the side with less hair. Start near the ear and work your way back and up!

Keep twisting! Add some pins as you go to secure the twist.

Once you’ve twisted it all you can twist, you’re going to need to tuck the ends.

Loop it back around as you see in photo 6 and tuck the tail of your twist back into the lower part of the twist and pin.

You’re probably always going to have some short hairs fall out of the back when putting up bob-length hair. For that I always keep some of THIS around. It’s like liquid glue (not in a bad way). It’s just a really strong and will secure those hairs that fall out, no problem.

PART 3: Knotty, knotty!

Now let’s go back to the front section. Pretend you’re going to do a french braid along your hairline. Instead of taking 3 pieces, take just two. Tie them together once.

Now add a piece to each side, the same way you would with a french braid.

Now tie that together!

Keep going and adding hair to each section as you go.

Once you get just above the ear, you can stop.

Twist the ends and tuck it into the back twist. Secure it with a bobby pin and spray it with a light veil of hairspray.

Check it in the mirror from all sides. Loosen up some bits if you want to make it feel a bit more soft and natural. If you try it, we of course want to see it! Tag us in your photo @thebeautydept on Instagram!

One of my all time favorite hairstyles for a wedding or for red carpet is the most super simple chic chignon (say that 3 times fast!). In this tutorial we show future brides and bridesmaids alike how to keep their hair out of the way while maintaining a timeless, classic look for any event. This is one of those updos that really allows you to focus on the dress, accessories and overall beauty instead of being a major focal point. Let’s get started!

Start with all of your hair in a ponytail. I like to place the pony at the occipital bone (that bone you can feel in the back of your head).

Next, slide the ponytail holder down about an inch or 2 and split it down the center as you see in photo #2.

Flip the ponytail up and feed it through the split, grabbing it with your fingers from underneath and pulling it through.

Now give the ponytail a gentle tug so it tightens back up.

Your ponytail should look like this. There should be a slight separation where you’ll be tucking hair later in step 7.

Use a comb to tease the ponytail. You can tease as little or as much as you want. The more you tease, the bigger your bun will be. The less you tease, the tighter the bun will be. Once your done teasing the hair, smooth the outside of it gently by using a smoothing brush.

Wrap the ponytail around one hand and tuck the tail of the ponytail into the hole you created when you twisted the hair.

Once you’ve tucked the excess, start pinning the bun in place. Gently pull it apart to make it fuller. The teased hair acts like stuffing, so you can spread it out carefully for a little more volume! If you hairspray as you go, you won’t have to worry about it falling out so much. Use the larger bobbypins to start securing the bun and then use the smaller ones around the edges. For updos like this it’s crucial to have a strong holding hairspray, but one that doesn’t get sticky or look wet. My all time favorite hairspray for doing updos is THIS ONE ! It’s called SuperHold and it’s like liquid bobby pins! It’s got amazing hold and it stays dry. Once you have it all in place, give it a good spray all over and lay down any unwanted fly-aways.

A fuller bun + a tighter bun can both look great for different reasons. For example– I would do a bigger bun for a wedding and maybe a tighter bun if I’m going to a work meeting. Also consider head size– for a smaller head, don’t overwhelm the silhouette by making a huge bun because it could make your head look even smaller. Use a hand mirror to check on your proportions from different angles as you go.

If you’re looking for accessories similar the one in the top image for your wedding, here are a few of my current favorites: